Has Schwarzenegger crossed the floor?

What’s going on with the Governator lately? I must admit I’m somewhat confused. He ran as a Republican, but is married to the most central democratic family in America. That was strange enough. Even stranger was that we got elected at all, but I guess it is California.

His first term didn’t produce too many surprises, though he seemed to lean more to the left than to the right – far enough, it seems to win democratic voters over, but not so far as to alienate the right.

I, along with lots of people I know, assumed that his governership would be a bit of a passing fad and that the people of California would elect an actual politician in the next election – but, again, this is California we’re talking about.

So Schwarzenegger has been re-elected and, somewhat like Chávez (but with a less cooky style), has made a shocking (for the American right) policy announcement – 2 actually.



The first came a few days ago when the Governator announced "near universal health care for the state".

Double take.

Umm, he is a Republican isn’t he? Surely this alone would be enough to get him tossed out of God’s Own Party. But then there’s this:

Under Mr. Schwarzenegger’s proposal, Medi-Cal would be extended to adults who earn as much as 100 percent above the federal poverty line and to children, regardless of their immigration status, living in homes where the family income is as much as 300 percent above that line, about $60,000 a year for a family of four. Medi-Cal is currently limited to adults with children, and children with documented residency are covered if their family’s income is up to 250 percent above of the poverty line.

REGARDLESS OF THEIR IMMIGRATION STATUS! Wait till GW hears about this, you’ll be in for a talking to Mr Schwarzenegger – but only if he can pronounce your name and then only if he forgets that you are about a thousand times more popular than he is…

To make matters worse (for the right, but far better for the left) the Governator followed up this “wait, which party do I belong to?” moment, with another, even better one: Announcing a 10% cut in vehicle emissions by 2020 (see here and here).

This order amounts to the first, in what will have to be a series, of practical impacts of the deal Schwarzenegger struck with the Legislature last year to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 25 percent by 2020.

In his speech he said:

Our country has been dependent on foreign oil for too long […] I ask you to set to motion the means to free ourselves from oil and from OPEC. I ask you to encourage the free market to overthrow the old order. California has the muscle to bring about such change. I say use it.

Well, gosh.

It’s going to be interesting to see where all this ends up.